INTERVIEW
in 1966, he moved down here with them,
getting a transfer to the Co-op bakery in
Shanklin, and within three weeks he had
his own round in West Wight. He also
had a spell as a milk man, but as he was
approaching his 21st birthday he went
to Moss Motors in Sandown to obtain his
PSV license. He said: “I went out about
half a dozen times, passed my test and
on my 21st birthday got my licence. I
went to Southern Vectis but only had a
single-deck licence, and they told me I
would need an upgrading test. I drove
a double-decker bus from Robin Hill to
Shanklin, went back a couple of days later
and drove it to Ryde; around on the town,
took my test later that day and passed.”
Ron and his family briefly moved to
the New Forest where he worked for the
Hants and Dorset bus company. He said:
"While I was there I was the first man to
drive a single-decker one-man operated
bus from Lymington to Southampton. I
didn't like the one-man buses as much
because you missed the banter, but I
got used to them. But I do recall my
boss once saying to me there are two
things to remember in this industry; the
comfort and safety of your passengers
is paramount, And never invite danger.
They still stick with me to this day.”
But he admits: “There was stuff we got
away with in those days that you would
be sacked for now, but we never upset
anyone. I held the record for going round
a roundabout seven times in a row near
Christchurch. Imagine what would
happen if you did that now.”
One day Ron received a phone call from
a friend on the Island saying Southern
Vectis were recruiting again, so he
returned here in May 1971 to begin his
long journey with the local bus company,
along with the fun. He said: “It was like
the little old lady who asked me if my bus
stopped at Cowes, and I told her there
would be a big splash if we didn’t! If you
said that today you would get reported,
but in those days they would just laugh.
“I used to work with a man called Tony
Buckland, who was a fun guy. One day
we were going from Shanklin to Ryde,
and picked up a man wearing a white
suit, white shoes, and he had two white
suitcases. He got on the bus and when
we got to Ryde there was u &